The Jell-O Gallery or Jell-O Museum is a museum in Le Roy, New York dedicated to exhibits about Jell-O . The museum is owned and operated by the Le Roy Historical Society.
98-632: The museum is currently located behind the Le Roy House within the sole remaining building of the Union Free School . The original Union Free School was built in the 1860s to educate both girls and boys in English and the classics. In 1898, the stone building was erected on the site to accommodate the growing number of pupils in the district. By 1911, a new high school was built across the street and both buildings were auctioned off. By 1945,
196-440: A Federal style mantel featuring classical entablature, inset molded panel and flanking pilasters. The molding on the door surround is the most detailed of any on the floor. It is currently used for storage. The bedroom across the hall has period furnishings and is used as an exhibit. Its mantel is similar. Upstairs, the third floor is closed to the public and used for storage of collection material not currently on exhibit. It has
294-420: A beaded-front cabinet below the window on the east wall. On the north wall is a steam radiator . The plaster has been removed on the south and east walls near the chimney, exposing the lath beneath. The chimney itself is in the northwest corner. In the south room the original blackboards remain on either side of the door on the north wall. Plaster has been stripped from that wall as well. Another steam radiator
392-432: A center hall dividing three small rooms on the west side from a large ballroom on the east. A small alcove projects from the west side of that room. There is extra storage space beneath the eaves on the north and south. The walls and ceilings are done in plaster. From the rear of the stair hall on the first floor, another set of stairs leads down to the basement. It, too, has a center hall with six rooms. Three are open to
490-545: A circle around the veranda. In 1856 he moved out. In 1837, Mariette and Emily Ingham had established the Le Roy Female Seminary in a nearby house. Its first chancellor , Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, lived in the Le Roy House during his tenure. His development of the school's curriculum led it to become Ingham Collegiate Institute and then Ingham University in 1857. During the 1860s pipelines were laid to
588-495: A classical entablature, Doric columns and a glazed brick hearth . Next to the chimney breast are French doors leading into the northwest room. A closed portion in the northeast corner houses the original circular stairway. The northwest room is currently the Le Roy Historical Society's office. Another six-panel wooden door with molded surround opens into it from the center hall. Its west wall fireplace has
686-572: A frame building, first for the Le Roy Academic Institute and then the local public school district, which it served as a high school . Its educational use ended in the early 20th century. For several decades afterward it was used as a factory for the manufacture of patent medicines . Since the 1940s it has been a property of the historical society. The Le Roy House is today owned by the Le Roy Historical Society and operated as historic house museum , with 19th century period rooms,
784-569: A large research library. There, museum staff process research requests on genealogy, town information, and Jell-O history. Le Roy House and Union Free School The Le Roy House and Union Free School are located on East Main Street ( New York State Route 5 ) in Le Roy , New York, United States. The house is a stucco -faced stone building in the Greek Revival architectural style . It
882-431: A local company that manufactured patent medicines , primarily Allen's Foot-Ease powder. He allowed the school district to use the house as a residence for its administrator until a local historical society was organized. The school building he converted into a factory and offices. The basement was used for grinding and mixing; the first story as offices. A freight lift was installed, and a second-story passage built between
980-556: A mile, then turns northwest paralleling the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks toward the small hamlet of Rock Glen . There it crosses for the first time New York State Route 19 (NY 19), which it will parallel closely for much of the rest of its length. To the west of Rock Glen, it passes through the narrow gorge that gave it its name, emerging at another hamlet, Newburg, at the head of the Oatka Valley it follows for
1078-414: A molded top round rail and square newel . Upstairs, another west hallway with a small room in the southwest corner gives access to three rooms of nearly equal size. All have paneled doors leading to the hallway, and each other. The finishes on this level are all original; none have been renovated . The northeast room is slightly larger than the other two. It has the upper level of the freight lift, and
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#17327733366011176-471: A non-functional freight lift on the east wall. Also on the east wall, a five-panel door opens into the closed stair along the east wall. A small storage room in the northwest corner is accessed from this space, divided from the main hall by a partially glazed wall on the south. The stair itself, located behind another paneled door at the north end of the entrance hall, is lit by the windows on that elevation. The dogleg stair itself has simple square balusters ,
1274-414: A northward heading, and there is another significant wetlands area. In another small wood two miles (3.2 km) north of Pavilion, US 20 crosses. The creek bends west, reaching its greatest distance from Route 19, then north-northeast back to the highway's vicinity. It enters the village of Le Roy on a northeast course, crossing Route 19 again as it widens into a 26-acre (11 ha) reservoir behind
1372-475: A popular Iroquois trail was an obvious place to establish a settlement, and four years after the Triangle Tract was purchased a man named Charles Arthur built a log cabin on the north side of what is now Main Street, just east of the future village's municipal boundary. He sold it a year later to a Capt. John Ganson, who expanded it into a tavern . Other settlers came, attracted by the fertile soils of
1470-425: A residence for educational administrators of both Ingham University and the local public schools. During the late 19th century it was subdivided into a boardinghouse for faculty and students at Ingham and the Le Roy Academic Institute, an early secular private school. Upon the establishment of the Le Roy Historical Society in 1941 it became the local historical museum. The school was originally an addition built on
1568-515: A room with Morganville Pottery items, and exhibits of local history. The school has also been converted into the Jell-O Gallery , devoted to the history and marketing of Jell-O , which was invented and first manufactured in Le Roy. Both buildings are located on a 3-acre (1.2 ha) lot along the north side of East Main Street, 500 feet (150 m) east of Oatka Creek . Across the street
1666-532: A single-family house lasted until the Civil War , when it was subdivided to become a boarding house . Since 1941 it has been the historical society's property. The school was original the west wing of an earlier frame structure, demolished in the 20th century. After being closed down, it was used as a factory for several decades. After the Revolutionary War , Robert Morris bought the land west of
1764-423: A six-over-six, eight-over-eight, six-over-six and four-over-four, all with stone sills. The north elevation has tripartite windows like those on the opposite face surrounding the rear entrance, a six-panel door with narrow six-light sidelights and four-light transom . The second story has three six-over-six windows aligned with the first-story windows. Paired paneled pilasters flank the six-light sidelights aside
1862-459: A three-story five-by-eight- bay limestone building with wooden interior framing. It is topped by an asphalt hipped roof with flared eaves and exposed rafter tails. Its raised basement has larger blocks and is separated by a water table . At the south end of the west elevation is the current main entrance. It has a porch with a concrete deck, metal staircase and guiderails. Its roof is done in beaded wood paneling similar to that once used inside
1960-445: A wood mantel with reeded pilasters and molded square corner blocks. To its north a built-in bookcase spans the wall. The east wall has a kitchen unit, and the room is floored in linoleum . East of the center hall, the two parlors have the greatest degree of decoration. The smaller southeast one has ornate wooden surrounds and plaster cornice moldings at the ceiling. The tripartite window is recessed and flanked by fluted pilasters. On
2058-478: Is a small park and Le Roy's current elementary school , built in the early 20th century. The surrounding neighborhood is otherwise mostly residential, with other large houses from the 19th century and the First Baptist Church at the creek. The deep lot has the house on the street, followed by a small parking lot, the school and a Little League baseball field in the very rear. A line of trees delineates
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#17327733366012156-400: Is a smaller vaulted room with a brick vault on the main floor, formerly the site of the cistern that collected rainwater from the roof. The northwest room houses a ceramics exhibit, and has exposed blue shale in its west wall. Opposite, in the northeast, is the boiler room. The remaining room, in the center of the west side below the stairwell, is a small bathroom. The school building is
2254-456: Is along the south wall. The basement has brick walls and a wood floor over concrete. Due to accumulated moisture over the years some of the wood has rotted, and the brick facing has been damaged. It is used for the storage of vehicles and other large items. The house originated with a land office from the earliest days of Le Roy's settlement, a building still structurally part of the house. After Jacob Le Roy expanded it considerably, its use as
2352-407: Is at Garbutt, but is much higher downstream in springtime and after significant runoff events. Only one community along the creek, the village of Warsaw, uses it as a water supply , putting it through a filtration plant before distributing it to residents and other customers. Its wastewater treatment plant is downstream of the intake. Le Roy also has state permits to discharge effluent into
2450-520: Is available to give a brief introduction on the history of Jell-O in Le Roy. In 2006, a new exhibit entitled “On the Road: A Century of Ruts, Dust, and Macadam” opened on the ground floor of the museum. Several horse-drawn wagons, an ox cart, and 1908 Cadillac are included in the collection of eleven vehicles. A brick sidewalk, entitled the Jell-O Brick Road, was installed in 1996 leading from
2548-466: Is diverse, including evaporites such as halite and gypsum in addition to its limestones and shales. In the lower section of the creek there is significant groundwater entering the creek. As it discharges, it weathers the gypsum and limestone. This results in increased sulfates in the water, and bicarbonates and calcium have also been found near the falls. These concentrations are in winter and spring, when heavier precipitation and runoff offsets
2646-460: Is in the southwest corner. Next to it, on the southeast, is the 832-square-foot (77.3 m ) main exhibit room. The natural light from the windows is supplemented by modern track lighting on the beaded fir ceiling. The beaded fir wainscoting, ceiling and floor are original but have been refinished; the door to the west hall has been removed. A sliding track door opens into the northeast room, currently used for storage. It has similar finishes, and
2744-483: Is known as the lower Oatka. It dips south, north and then south again through a largely wooded area as it approaches Genesee Country Village and enters Monroe County near Mumford . After bypassing that hamlet to the north, NY 383 parallels on the north and the CSX rail line across New York on the south, as the creek reaches Oatka Creek Park , a large tract of former farmland to its south. Here both road and rail are to
2842-504: Is the 2,580-acre (1,040 ha) Carlton Hill Wildlife Management Area in Middlebury, north of Warsaw. The United States Geological Survey maintains two stream gauges on the creek, at Garbutt near the mouth and Warsaw below its headwaters. Average annual streamflow is 55 cubic feet per second (1.6 m /s) at the upstream station and 219 cubic feet per second (6.2 m /s) downstream. Flow at Warsaw averages 21–36% of what it
2940-551: Is the Oatka's mouth. Including the Oatka itself, there are 425 miles (684 km) of stream in the watershed. There are few significant lakes or ponds within the watershed. The largest is Lake Le Roy , near the headwaters of Mud Creek in Pavilion. It is a 59-acre (24 ha) reservoir that once served as the main water supply for the village of Le Roy. The only protected area in the Oatka watershed besides Oatka Creek Park
3038-643: The Genesee River which now makes up Western New York from the state of Massachusetts . Most of this he later sold to the Holland Land Company , but in 1793 the New York firm of LeRoy & Bayard acquired 87,000 acres (35,000 ha) from him. Because of its shape, stretching from the current village of Le Roy to the shores of Lake Ontario and widening to the north, it was called the Triangle Tract. The intersection of Oatka Creek with
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3136-575: The Genesee River , located entirely in the Western New York region of the U.S. state of New York. From southern Wyoming County , it flows 58 miles (93 km) to the Genesee near Scottsville , draining an area of 215 square miles (560 km ) that includes all or part of 23 towns and villages in Wyoming, Genesee , Livingston and Monroe counties as well. Its name means "leaving
3234-559: The NY 36 bridge near Wheatland Center, as well as 50 ft (15 m) on either side of county roads that cross the creek. DEC has also acquired public fishing easements on a small stretch in Mumford and much of both banks along Oatka Trail in the Town of Le Roy between Mud Creek and the unnamed northern tributary two miles (3.2 km) upstream. These allow use of the 33 feet (11 m) adjoining
3332-510: The Seneca nation established a few settlements along it where clearings arose in the forest. The Revolutionary War 's Sullivan Expedition brought the valley's fertile soil to the attention of the emerging nation, and the region was opened for settlement shortly after the war. For a time the Oatka was called Allan's Creek after the area's first settler, Ebenezer "Indian" Allan. Its waterpower facilitated early 19th-century European settlement of
3430-526: The US 20 bridge in Pavilion and one of the Route 19 bridges north of Warsaw being steel truss designs. In the early days of settlement the creek contributed directly to the local economy through the mills established along it. They were removed in later years when industrialization elsewhere made them less profitable. Today the creek's direct economic value comes from its role as a water supply and discharge for
3528-458: The gypsum and dolomite present in the bedrock. Those minerals also produce detectable magnesium and strontium levels as well. Trichloroethylene is sometimes found as well, the legacy of a spill from a railroad accident near Le Roy in the early 1970s. During high-runoff events, fecal coliform in the lower Oatka sometimes exceeds permitted levels. There are no major issues at present that could significantly degrade water quality on most of
3626-436: The village of Caledonia. Other towns with no portions of the creek itself having large sections within its basin are Perry , Orangeville , and Bethany . Small portions of Castile , Wethersfield , Byron and Bergen also drain into the Oatka. There are five villages wholly or partially within the watershed. The former are Warsaw , Wyoming and Le Roy . Closer to its mouth are Scottsville and Caledonia . These are
3724-530: The Blue Hole and falls cool the creek again; from the bend eastward to its mouth it is a freestone stream with a large population of stocked and wild brown trout. The 11,200 fry added to the waters each year come from the state fish hatchery north of Caledonia on the Oatka's Spring Creek tributary established in 1864 by Seth Green , the oldest such facility in the Western Hemisphere . Brown trout
3822-525: The Genesee. Buttermilk Falls divides Oatka Creek into two distinct geological regions. The upper stream's bedrock is local sedimentary rock formations, with the shales and sandstones of the Sonyea Group, shale- limestone Genesee Group and Tully Limestone dominating from the headwaters to Pavilion. Between there and Le Roy the shales and thin limestones of the Hamilton Group underlie
3920-482: The Le Roy House to the Jell-O Gallery. Many of the bricks are engraved with the names of prominent historical Le Royans, Jell-O employees, and Le Roy residents There is also a Little League field on the property, located behind the museum. A gift shop, offering T-shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, molds, Jell-O collectibles, and a variety of other items is located adjacent to the exhibit room. The building also has
4018-693: The Oatka Creek Watershed Committee was formed. It sponsored research into the stream and watershed, including the first "State of the Basin" report two years later. Intermunicipal agreements were adopted in 2004, and an outline for an Oatka Creek Watershed Management Plan was adopted in 2006, in cooperation with the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council. There is limited data on the fish and plant species that thrive in and around
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4116-664: The Oatka valley, and three years later, in 1802, the first bridge was built over the creek. In 1813 the community was named after Herman Le Roy, senior partner in the landowning firm and former director of the Bank of the United States . He bought more land south of the Triangle Tract's tip, a purchase known as the Five Hundred Acre Tract, to attract more settlers. When the land was fully surveyed in 1817, he sent his nephew Egbert Benson Jr. to Le Roy to serve as
4214-479: The abundant fertile lands in the Holland Purchase . Today it remains an important regional resource, used for water supply and recreational purposes, and actively protected to assure water quality . It is a popular trout stream, stocked from the oldest fish hatchery in the Western Hemisphere near its mouth. A dam in Le Roy makes the section below it a losing stream , dry during the warm months of
4312-500: The area were consolidated into the Le Roy Union Free School District, the precursor of today's Le Roy Central School District . The following year the new district's trustees voted to acquire the house and school from the institute for $ 10,000 ($ 339,000 in contemporary dollars ). The institute's trustees in turn voted to dissolve it. Seven years later, in 1898, the school district built a stone addition,
4410-734: The area. The Senecas eventually became part of the Iroquois Confederation , where the Oatka was at the very westernmost extent, giving them the honorific "Keepers of the Western Door" within the Confederation. In 1779, during the Revolutionary War the Continental Army 's Sullivan Expedition came into Western New York to suppress Senecas who had professed loyalty to the British or might do so. Many of
4508-564: The center hall. On the second floor, an identical arch spans the center hall south of the top of the stair. The decoration is more restrained, with simpler door and window surrounds and a ceiling medallion in the north section of the hall made of concentric circles. The same wide flooring planks are used everywhere on the floor except for the bathroom. All rooms are accessed by six-paneled wooden doors with half-glazing consisting of hand-painted frosted glass depicting landscapes, ruins, birds or animals. A storage space has been created from part of
4606-427: The company's agent. The two-story brick building Benson had constructed on the site of the current house is its earliest section. At that time it had an entrance on the west (now a window) and a narrow circular stair to the garret . An adjoining room to the north had a vaulted ceiling. The basement had the extant cistern and cold storage. Four years later, in 1821, the community had been subdivided into lots and
4704-423: The creek as no comprehensive survey has been done. The state has identified several communities of species it lists as rare , threatened or endangered . To protect them more effectively it has limited publication of the exact species or location of the communities. More specific data exists on benthic macroinvertebrates , or larger organisms that depend on the sediment on the stream floor. These are primarily
4802-525: The creek. North of Le Roy, the Oatka becomes a losing stream , with water disappearing into the ground. In the warmer months this results in the creekbed drying up above Buttermilk Falls, and slowly re-emerging further down from springs and seeps. After it does, and turns to the east, it flows over the Akron Formation , Bertie Group of dolomitic shales , and the Salina Group. The latter
4900-606: The creek. There are 32 bridges currently spanning the creek, built between 1915 and 2003. The oldest carries Union Street in Wheatland; the newest is the NY 251 bridge into Scottsville above the creek's mouth. Seven of them carry NY 19 over the creek. These include both the longest, the 227-foot (69 m) crossing over the lake created by the Le Roy dam, northernmost along Route 19, and the shortest and southernmost, its 29-foot (8.8 m) bridge south of Rock Glen. Most are steel or concrete stringer or box girder structures, with
4998-583: The dam just south of NY 5 . It narrows again north of the village towards Buttermilk Falls and the section that flows underground in warm, dry weather. The valley here is broad, its walls now long and gently sloped instead of steep and short. After going over the 60-foot (18 m) falls, marking the Onondaga Escarpment , it turns east, leaving NY 19 a mile south of the New York State Thruway . This geologically distinct section
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#17327733366015096-494: The development of Le Roy and Warsaw around them. Oatka Creek's primary direct contribution to the local economy today is as a scenic and recreational resource. The former is enhanced by the Oatka Valley. The latter consists of hiking, boating and primarily angling in three distinct fisheries . The upper creek, above Warsaw, is stocked with 1,850 yearling brown trout in the spring of each year, supplementing an indigenous wild population. DEC surveys have found that by June few of
5194-434: The east and west. On the north (rear) elevation is a full-width one-story porch on a concrete foundation with limestone steps. Its hipped roof is supported by round Tuscan columns and louvered panels at the sides. Its south (front) facade frames the centrally located main entrance in a hip roofed portico with classical entablature supported by paired fluted Doric columns with indented capitals . All windows on
5292-408: The east the fireplace mantel has a classical entablature and engaged Ionic columns. A ten-foot-wide (3 m) cased opening separates the two eastern parlors. It has some of the same decorative motifs seen elsewhere on the first floor, such as reed molding and molded corner blocks, along with a molded inset panel at the center. From the front, a classical entablature and Tuscan columns frame the view to
5390-442: The end of September. In May 1998, the museum accepted the exhibit for permanent display. The museum currently hosts a variety of advertising art, including several original oil paintings from the early 1900s. Hundreds of Jell-O collectibles, including Jell-O spoons, toys, boxes, recipe books, and memorabilia, are on display. Displays include information about the history of Jell-O, Jell-O advertising, and Jell-O fun facts. A tour guide
5488-416: The extant building, onto the frame building. By 1904 it had been renamed Le Roy Union High School. Its student population soon outgrew this space, and seven years later the current Le Roy Junior/Senior High School was built across Main Street and Trigon Park. The old school's last year was 1911; it has not been used for educational purposes since. The house and school were bought by Allen Olmsted, owner of
5586-440: The facade are tripartite, with 12-over-12 double-hung sash flanked by three-over-three sidelights on the first story complemented by eight-over-eight and two-over-two on the second. All have plain lintels and wooden shutters for the sidelights. At the basement level a window on the west side provides light; the corresponding opening on the east has been bricked in. The side elevations are asymmetrically fenestrated , reflecting
5684-400: The first-story window at the north end. The same pattern of six-over-one above one-over-one obtains on the north side, with the three windows to the west being narrower. At the first story's northeast corner is a secondary entrance with a vinyl siding enclosure. It leads to the basement. The south, the side facing the street, is similar to the other faces except for having two narrow windows in
5782-532: The food supply for various trout species. The lower Oatka is considered a blue-ribbon brown trout fishery , with some brook trout populating the water as well. The state fish hatchery on Spring Creek near Caledonia stocks the stream annually, and there is also evidence of a wild trout fishery on the stretch between Bowerman and Wheatland Center roads. A 1999 survey estimated the creek's total trout biomass at 30 pounds per acre (33 kg per hectare) bass , walleye and northern pike have also been taken near
5880-425: The highlands accumulated in the valley, and the land eventually reforested . The Native Americans who would become the Seneca nation eventually came and settled in the area. They established a few small communities at the clearings in the forest where they found good hunting, and were first to farm the lands in the valley. The network of trails that connected them eventually became part of today's road network in
5978-406: The highlands" or "approaching an opening" in Seneca . Like its parent stream it originated during the end of the last Ice Age , as glacial impact on the upper Allegheny Plateau created a rolling landscape streams could gradually erode through, The Oatka carved a deep groove known today as the Oatka Valley, where the upper creek's two major settlements would be established. Native Americans of
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#17327733366016076-440: The house to Alfred Bartow and returned to New York City. He died there in 1847. Bartow built the rear veranda . He replaced the original interior doors with the decorative glass-paneled ones currently in use sometime during the 1840s and '50s. He also oversaw extensive additions to the grounds, such as large barns, expanded gardens, and the replacement of a stone wall with iron filigreed gate posts. Two drives on either side made
6174-437: The house to provide gas for heating and lighting . Citizens of the village, including Bartow, established the non-sectarian LeRoy Academic Institute in 1864 in a small building on Main Street. Within a year, it had outgrown that space, and the institute's trustees bought the Le Roy House from Cox. They built a two-story wood frame school on the site of the present school, with enough space for 250 students. The house itself
6272-406: The house's phased expansion. Both have a six-over-six window flanked by quarter-round windows in the pediments. On the east are three six-over-six windows in the northern bays, and two on the first in the two northernmost bays. The west face's second story is fully fenestrated, but with an eight-over-eight in the second bay from north dropped a half-story. Below it, the first story has, from the south,
6370-405: The immature forms of insects that live on land as adults. Many of these species, such as caddisflies and stoneflies , are pollution-intolerant and thus their presence is an indicator of good water quality. They were found during a 1989–90 survey of the lower Oatka, but in lower numbers than expected. The stream is thus considered "slightly impacted" by pollution. Many of those insects constitute
6468-468: The impact of the groundwater. As the glaciers retreated 12,000 years ago the landscape they left behind on the Allegheny Plateau was a rolling expanse of drumlins and depressions in which meltwater and precipitation could accumulate. It was ideal topography for stream formation, and these bodies of water eventually combined and became the Oatka, eroding the Oatka Valley. Fertile soil from
6566-415: The less-accessible stretch downstream of the park to Bowerman Road; during the regular season anglers are limited to two fish per day at a 12-inch (30 cm) minimum. Black bass and northern pike have also taken flies in those waters. Access is also available from a small Scottsville village park on the south bank east of Route 251, the hundred feet on the other side of that highway and both sides of
6664-406: The main entrance, topped by another four-light transom. The six-panel wooden door opens into a 53-foot (16 m) central hall running the depth of the house. In the middle an elliptical arch with molded soffit panels and reeded wood trim and keystones . A similar arch on the adjacent wall leads into the stair hall. Flooring throughout the first story is four-inch (10 cm) wooden board with
6762-521: The mouth of the stream, in today's Wheatland, in 1786. The creek would be known as Allan's Creek for years afterwards. After he moved further down the Genesee, other settlers came, the beginnings of what became Scottsville. In the 1790s settlement progressed upstream with the establishment of Le Roy where the stream intersected an old Indian trail that later became New York State Route 5 . Settlement moved quickly afterwards, with all present communities as far south as Gainesville seeing their first settlers in
6860-403: The north of the stream, widening again. Beyond the park it enters an area of predominantly farmland again as it passes south of Scottsville , where NY 251 enters the village by bridging the Oatka. A mile further along, it empties into the Genesee. The Oatka's basin is relatively narrow and does not extend far from the Oatka Valley or the towns through which the creek itself flows. Almost all of
6958-415: The only concentrated areas of development and population within it. The majority (73%) of the watershed is active or inactive agricultural land. Forests cover another 21%. Most of the remainder is residential or commercial land, with industrial use accounting for just 1%. The watershed's highest point of 1,990 feet (610 m) is located in southeastern Orangeville; its lowest point, 525 feet (160 m),
7056-468: The opening years of the 19th century, when the Holland Land Company owned much of it. The only significant change made to the river by human engineering is the dam at Le Roy near where Route 5 crosses the creek. It creates a 25-acre (10 ha) lake in the center of the village. Other dams or diversions that were created for milling purposes in the 19th century have been abandoned and/or removed. There are no power plants or flood control projects along
7154-426: The plaster walls covered by reproduction wallpaper. On either side of the center hall are two large rooms. The southwest room is decorated to approximate the building's original function as a land office. Wooden shutters for the 12-over-12 at the center of the tripartite window are on the adjacent interior walls. The doors and windows have reed surrounds with molded corner blocks. The west wall's fireplace mantel has
7252-499: The property boundaries. In 1997 both buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The house is a two-and-a-half-story stucco -faced limestone structure with a raised foundation and side- gabled roof shingled in asphalt. Two brown brick chimneys with concrete caps pierce it at either end. The roofline has broad overhanging eaves on the north and south and a dentilled pedimented cornice on
7350-475: The property was given to the newly formed Le Roy Historical Society. The original wooden structure was razed in the 1962, but the stone building remained and was used for storage. By 1996, the Le Roy Historical Society decided to renovate the old stone building and host the travelling “There’s Always Room for Jell-O” exhibit for the Jell-O Jubilee. The exhibit remained on display from June 1, 1997 through
7448-440: The public and used for exhibits. In the southeast is a kitchen exhibit, in accordance with the bake oven in the open fireplace and open shelving along the east and north walls. It has a stone floor, plaster walls, and wooden shiplap ceiling. In the southwest corner of the basement is the oldest room in the house, used for cold storage. It has a stone floor and vaulted brick ceiling, with walls of mortared limestone. To its north
7546-405: The rear, doubling the interior, and the attic story. The new section was reportedly modeled after New York City townhouses of the era. Fruit trees and flowering shrubs were planted around the house at this time. Six years later, in 1829, Le Roy hosted the reception after Daniel Webster 's wedding to one of his sisters. The last of the Triangle Tract lots was sold by 1837, and the land office
7644-423: The remainder of the property to the historical society. The last change to the house was made in 1958. The rear porch was reconstructed since the original stone wall had deteriorated. It was replaced with a concrete wall. The windows were removed and the space beneath the porch entirely enclosed. Oatka Creek Oatka Creek ( / oʊ ˈ æ t k ə / oh- AT -kə ) is the third longest tributary of
7742-437: The rest of its run. Again crossing under Route 19, it has descended 280 feet (85 m) since its rise. From Newburg it meanders northwest, then north, staying close to the highway on the valley floor. Several miles further downstream it enters Warsaw , the county seat . It goes under Route 19 again and trends to the west, flowing under U.S. Route 20A to pass to the west of Warsaw High School and its athletic fields. North of
7840-458: The school. The surrounding masonry work is different since the door was added later. Fenestration on that side consists of three aligned pairs of double-hung sash windows, one-over-one at the basement and first story, and two six-over-ones flanking a wooden door on the second. On the east (rear) are aligned windows, likewise six one-over-one on the first story and seven six-over-one on the second. The basement windows have been bricked in, as has
7938-408: The southeast bedroom, which has a fireplace with plain wood mantel. It is currently used to exhibit a collection of period children's toys. The similar bedroom across the hall is now used as a research library. Its northeast corner has also been partitioned to create a bathroom with wooden wainscoting along its walls. The largest of the second floor bathrooms, the northeast one, has a fireplace with
8036-420: The stocked trout remain, showing that the stretch has heavy fishing pressure. The record size for trout taken from this stretch is 16 inches (410 mm). DEC has not acquired any public fishing rights along the four miles (6.4 km) south of, but public access is relatively unhindered as there are several bridges, paralleling railroad tracks (both of which automatically create public access to adjacent areas of
8134-411: The stone and wood buildings. In 1941 the local historical society was finally established and took title to the house, restoring the bake oven and brick hearth in the basement kitchen soon afterwards. Olmsted's company was bought by Buffalo -based Foster-Milburn two years later. It continued manufacturing operations in Le Roy for another two years, then moved them to Buffalo. When it did, it transferred
8232-741: The stream from their wastewater plants, along with the Lapp Insulators plant in Le Roy and the fish hatchery in Caledonia (via the Spring Creek tributary). The latter has the highest permitted discharge of any permit in the Oatka watershed. The villages of Caledonia and Wyoming, and one of Pavilion's water districts, use wells in the watershed. The creek's water quality has been extensively studied in its lower watershed, below Buttermilk Falls. Most chemicals within it are within normal limits, with slightly higher levels of sulfates due to
8330-458: The stream under New York law) and the area is otherwise lightly posted against trespassing . From Warsaw to Le Roy, the stream matures and warms. This is conducive to different species of sport fish, particularly bass , pike , sunfish , crappies and bullhead . There is access from bridges and some public land owned by municipalities in the area. The lower Oatka is the portion most popular with fly fishermen . The groundwater infusions from
8428-521: The stream. Accordingly, the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) classifies the Monroe and Genesee sections of the stream as "threatened", since some issues could arise in the future. The Wyoming County portion is considered "stressed", in that while its quality is generally good, occasional issues arise that limit use. In 1999, following a "Caring for Creeks" conference in Rochester,
8526-423: The towns of Warsaw , Pavilion and Le Roy are within the watershed, along with large portions of Covington , Gainesville , Middlebury and Wheatland . Most of the eastern half of Stafford is in the Oatka basin even though only a small portion of the creek flows through it. In Livingston County Caledonia is the only town with land in the watershed, consisting mostly of its northeastern corner and most of
8624-448: The tripartite window in the rear. Along its sides, lined with shallow molded wood paneling, are shallow closets. In the northeast parlor, the tripartite window is similarly recessed and flanked by pilasters. The fireplace mantel has an inset molded panel, classical entablature and engaged Tuscan columns. On either side are the six-over-six windows with reeded pilaster finish and molded corner blocks. Another six-panel wooden door opens into
8722-491: The troops came from farms in New England and recognized the quality of land in the Oatka watershed. After the war they agitated for it to be opened to settlement. After the war, New York and Massachusetts resolved the latter's claim to the area, and the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree (today Geneseo ) extinguished all Native land claims. The first settler along the Oatka was Ebenezer "Indian" Allan, who established himself near
8820-506: The village the valley widens, staying generally level. The creek and NY 19 cross again amid large cultivated fields. The valley begins to angle northeasterly towards Wyoming , which the Oatka bypasses to the southeast into a large wooded area. It then passes through the largest wetlands along it course. North of that it crosses Route 19 again as that road turns eastward briefly. The two return to each other when they cross into Genesee County at Pavilion , where NY 63 crosses as they resume
8918-528: The wastewater of the two most populous villages along it, Le Roy and Warsaw. The narrow and deep Oatka Valley was a preferred transportation corridor through eastern Wyoming and Genesee counties. First came the road that became Route 19 in 1930 . In 1874 it was paralleled by the Rochester and State Line Railroad ; today operated by Norfolk Southern after many ownership changes. Intersections with major east–west routes that became NY 5 and US 20A prompted
9016-469: The westernmost bay. All its windows have rock-faced lintels and smooth sills. The paneled main entrance door, with single-light sidelights and transom , opens into a hall running along the west side. It is currently used as a gift shop and admission area for the museum. In the wider central portion of the hall is the freestanding chimney, its breast faced in plaster, with turned wooden cornerbeads and beaded fir wainscoting. A small administrative office
9114-522: The year as the stream flows through subterranean channels. Several small streams, some of which ultimately rise to the north at elevations of almost 1,600 feet (490 m), come together to create the main stem of the creek amid the fields and woodlots on the high plateau in Gainesville just south of the Warsaw town line, a short distance west of Silver Spring Road. The new stream flows first south
9212-541: Was first introduced to American waters from it; today the 170,000 pounds (77,000 kg) of fish produced supply almost all of the state's stocked streams. Public access to this section is extensive. The 1.7-mile (2.7 km) section in Oatka Creek Park is the most frequently used, since special regulations to conserve the wild trout population there allow no-kill fishing there with artificial lures year-round. Similar rules apply between October and March in
9310-435: Was formally closed. In the 1840s the front portico was added, giving the house its strong Greek Revival character. The stucco facing, added some time after the rear was built, further unified the house's appearance. After the company's decision to raise prices on some former Holland properties it had acquired met with widespread local resistance in some areas and violence against one of the company's other offices, Jacob sold
9408-503: Was originally a land office, expanded in two stages during the 19th century by its builder, Jacob Le Roy, an early settler for whom the village is named. In the rear of the property is the village's first schoolhouse, a stone building from the end of the 19th century. Le Roy expanded the small land office into a large house, with finely decorated interior. After its completion, he hosted the reception following Daniel Webster 's second marriage, to one of Le Roy's sisters. Later it served as
9506-412: Was thriving, with mills and other industries being established. Jacob Le Roy, a son of Herman's who had traveled abroad learning the family business after studies at Yale , replaced his cousin as company agent. Two years later he bought the land office building and began expanding it into a house for himself and his family. By 1823 it had reached its current size. Le Roy had added a two-story addition to
9604-479: Was used to board faculty and some students. The interior was altered extensively during this period. Signs of former partitions remain on the floors of the large bedrooms upstairs, and the irregular fenestration of the side elevations also reflects this subdivision of the interior space. During the 1880s the basement kitchen was remodeled, with the shiplap ceiling added and the original fireplace and bake oven bricked shut. In 1890, four small rural school districts in
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